Galaxy Quest (1999)

GALAXY QUEST, which opens on Christmas Day, has *the* best comedic
premise of the year: the cult cast of a defunct "Star Trek"-like
television series is mistaken for real intergalactic heroes by a
race of channel-surfing aliens. And not only have they come to
Earth to enlist the aid of the convention-hopping has-beens, they
have also built a working replica of the show's starship! (Aye,
there's even an transporter, thought it's never been "successfully
tested.") Adventure ensues, much of it expectedly hilarious. Such
as when Tim Allen's Commander Peter Quincy Taggart instructs his
helmsman to "take her out" and the ship starts scraping the sides
of the docking bay. Or an amusing search for fuel on one of those
ever-popular, California desert-looking "rock planets." The ensem-
ble cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, and Tony Shaloub,
and they're great bickerers. (Gotta love Weaver's ever-lowering
zipper, too!) The mechanical mannerisms of the silver-clad, human-
impersonating aliens are good for quite a few laughs, as well. In
fact, the film's only glaring "off" moments are those increasingly
frequent times that the story takes itself (too) seriously. Syrupy
strings start playing, characters threaten to get moisty-eyed, and
entire sequences are rendered unwatchable. Beam me outta there!
Dean Parisot (HOME FRIES) directs. (Rated "PG-13"/110 min.)
Grade: B
Copyright 1999 Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros